Chapter 19. DIANA'S LOVERS, or THE ENGLISH LADY PREFERS MUSLIMS

Chapter Nine From "Wedding" to "Cinderella" From strange lyrics, Where every step is a secret, Where there are abysses left and right, Where glory is under my feet, like a withered leaf, Apparently, there is no salvation for me. Anna Akhmatova. “From strange lyrics…” 1943 was a turning point for the country at war. Before

Chapter 5 Raine Spencer - Hateful Stepmother On June 9, 1975, the seventh Earl Spencer died, after his death, John Elthorp Spencer finally inherited the title and estate. The family moved from pretty Park House to Althorp Castle. Diana was beside herself with happiness. “Now I

Chapter 19. Diana's Lovers, or the English Lady Prefers Muslims Princess Diana had sisters, but her favorite "sister" she called a man - her butler Paul Burrell, whom she met in 1980, when she was first invited to the palace as

The tragedy occurred on August 31, 1997, when the car in which Princess Diana was traveling, under mysterious circumstances, crashed into the 13th column of the tunnel under the Alma Bridge. Then everything was attributed to the drunken state of the driver and an unfortunate set of circumstances. Was it really so? A few years later, a list of facts appears that can take a different look at the “accident” on that fateful day.

A surprise for many was a letter from Princess Diana herself, written by her 10 months before her own death, which was published in 2003 by the English newspaper Daily Mirror. Even then, in 1996, the princess was worried that her life was in the “most dangerous phase” and someone (the name was hidden by the newspaper) wants to eliminate Diana by rigging a car accident. Such a turn of events would have opened the way for her former husband, Prince Charles, to remarry. According to Diana, for 15 years she was “driven, terrorized and tormented morally British system". “I cried all this time as much as no one in the world cried, but my inner strength did not allow me to give up.” The princess felt something was wrong, as many foresee the approach of trouble, but did she really know about the impending assassination attempt? Was there really a conspiracy against Lady Dee?

One of the first such developments was suggested by billionaire Mohammed Al-Fayed, the father of the deceased along with Diana Dodi Al-Fayed. However, the French intelligence services, investigating the circumstances of the car accident, concluded that the princess's Mercedes with driver Henri Paul collided in the tunnel with the Fiat of one of the paparazzi while trying to overtake. Wanting to dodge the collision, Paul sent the car to the side and crashed into the ill-fated 13th column. From that moment on, questions began to arise, to which there are still no clear answers.
According to Mohammed Al-Fayed, the driver Henri Paul is really involved in the accident, but not quite the way the official version says. The billionaire claims that the presence of a large amount of alcohol in the blood of the driver is the machinations of doctors who are also involved in this case. In addition, according to Mohammed, Paul was an informant for the British intelligence service M6. It also looks strange that the paparazzi James Andanson, the driver of the Fiat Uno, whom Diana's Mercedes collided with, died in 2000 under very strange circumstances: his body was found in the forest in a burned-out car. The police considered it a suicide, but Al-Fayed thinks differently.

Interesting is the fact that a few weeks after the death of the photographer, the agency where he worked was attacked. The armed men took the workers hostage and fled only after they took out all the photographic materials and equipment. Later it became known that the day after the accident in the tunnel, the photographer of the same agency, Lionel Cherrolt, was left without equipment and materials. The police did their best to cover up this case, which, in principle, they succeeded.

It also looks strange that the cameras that monitor the route around the clock from the Ritz Hotel, where Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed lived, before leaving the tunnel, turned out to be turned off for some reason during the passage of the Mercedes.

Richard Tomlinson, an officer of the British intelligence service M6, under oath shared some interesting information regarding this case. For example, about the fact that immediately before the death of the princess, two M6 special agents arrived in Paris, and M6 had its own informant in the Ritz Hotel itself. Tomlinson is certain that this informant was none other than driver Henri Paul. Maybe that's why the driver's pocket at the time of the accident was two thousand pounds in cash and one hundred thousand in a bank account with a salary of 23 thousand a year.

The official version alcohol intoxication driver's more than shaky, largely based on circumstantial and inaccurate evidence. For example, after the accident, the body of the driver lay in the sun for a long time in very hot weather instead of being placed in a refrigerator. In the heat, the blood "fermented" rather quickly, after which it was not possible to distinguish the drunk alcohol from the alcohol produced as a result of changes in the body. The second "irrefutable evidence" of the driver's alcoholism is that he was taking the drug tiapride, which is often prescribed for alcoholics. However, tiapride is also used as a hypnotic and sedative. It was precisely the calming effect after the break with his family that Henri Paul could achieve!

At the autopsy of the driver, no signs of alcoholism were found in his liver, and immediately before the accident, Paul underwent a complete medical examination to renew his pilot's license. However, the sources of Mohammed Al-Fayed claim that before the accident, carbon monoxide was found in the blood of Henri Paul, which can bring a person out of balance in life. How did it get into the driver's body and, most importantly, who benefited from it? Surely the French secret services know something on this issue, but so far they are in no hurry to share information.

A bright flashing light, described by several witnesses, could also help the tragedy that had unfolded. Brenda Wills and Francoise Levistre have been talking about this for a long time, talking about a bright strobe light in the tunnel under the Alma bridge. No one took the words of the two women seriously (or did not want to take them), despite the mention of these facts in authoritative periodicals. On the contrary, the witnesses, especially the Frenchwoman Levistre, were advised to hide in a psychiatric hospital.

The references to flashing lights during the crash startled British intelligence officer Richard Tomlinson because he had access to secret M6 documents relating to the "Milosevic case." One such document outlined a plan to assassinate the Yugoslav leader: a mock accident resulting from a car crash using bright flashing lights. (On the effects of light under certain conditions, see the article "Measuring".)

Why were there no surveillance cameras in the tunnel, although no problems were noticed in the Ritz Hotel itself? Of course, this can be attributed to an accident or a misunderstanding. But what really happened anyway? Perhaps we will never restore the full picture of events, although there is hope for an investigation. French secret services. Will they share information with the common people?

Princess Diana. Last day in Paris

A film about the last weeks of the life of one of the most famous women XX century - Diana, Princess of Wales. The unexpected and tragic death of Diana in August 1997 shocked the world no less than the assassination of President Kennedy. The tragedy that happened on August 31, 1997 from the very beginning was surrounded by many conflicting rumors and the most incredible assumptions.

Who killed Princess Diana?

Ten years ago, the loudest car accident of the last century occurred. The legendary Lady Dee, an English princess, a woman symbol, died in a Paris tunnel (See the photo gallery “Princess Diana’s Life Story”). On August 27 and 28, REN TV will show documentary"Purely English murder." The authors conducted their own investigation and tried to find out whether this tragedy was an accident.

On August 31, 1997, at 0:27 a.m., a car carrying Princess Diana, her friend Dodi al-Fayed, driver Henri Paul and Diana's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones crashed into the 13th pillar of the bridge over the Alma Tunnel. Dodi and driver Henri Paul die on the spot. Princess Diana will die around 4 a.m. in the hospital.

Version 1 Killer Paparazzi?

The first version expressed by the investigation: several reporters who traveled on motor scooters were to blame for the accident. They were chasing Diana's black Mercedes, and one of them may have interfered with the princess's car. The driver of the Mercedes, trying to avoid the collision, crashed into the concrete support of the bridge.

But, according to eyewitnesses, they entered the tunnel a few seconds after Diana's Mercedes, which means they could not provoke an accident.

Lawyer Virginie Bardet:

- In fact, there is no evidence of the guilt of the photographers. The judge said: "There is no sign of manslaughter in the actions of the photographers that led to the death of Diana, Dodi al-Fayed, Henri Paul and the disability of Trevor Rees-Jones."

Version 2Mysterious "Fiat Uno"

The investigation puts forward new version: the cause of the accident was a car, which by that time was already in the tunnel. In the immediate vicinity of the crashed Mercedes, detective police found fragments of a Fiat Uno.

Jacques Mules, head of the detective police brigade: “The fragments of the rear light and paint particles that we found allowed us to calculate all the characteristics of the Fiat Uno within 48 hours.

When interviewing eyewitnesses, the police allegedly found out that a white Fiat Uno, a few seconds after the accident, zigzagged out of the tunnel. Moreover, the driver did not look at the road, but in the rear-view mirror, as if he saw something, for example, a crashed car.

The detective police determined the exact characteristics of the car, its color and year of manufacture. But even with information about the car and a description of the appearance of the driver, the investigation failed to find either the car or the driver.

Francis Gilleri, author of his own independent investigation: “All cars of this brand in the country were checked, but none of them showed signs of a similar collision. White "Fiat Uno" fell through the ground! And the eyewitnesses of the accident, who saw him, began to get confused in the testimony, from which it did not become clear whether the white Fiat was at the scene of the tragedy at the unfortunate moment.

Interestingly, the version about the white Fiat that allegedly caused the accident, as well as the information about the left turn signal found at the scene of the tragedy, was not made public immediately, but only two weeks after the incident.

Version 3British intelligence agencies

Only today, details are becoming known, which for some reason it was customary not to mention. As soon as the black Mercedes drove into the tunnel, suddenly a bright flash of light cut the twilight. It is so powerful that everyone who watched it was blinded for a few seconds. And in a moment the screech of brakes and the sound of a terrible blow blow up the silence of the night. François Laviste at that time was just leaving the tunnel and was only a few meters from the scene of the tragedy. First, the investigation accepted his testimony, and then recognized the only witness as unreliable.

The version was circulated at the suggestion of former MI6 officer Richard Thomplison. The former agent said that the circumstances of the death of Princess Diana remind him of a plan to assassinate Slobodan Milosevic, developed by the British intelligence services. The Yugoslav president was about to be blinded in a tunnel by a powerful flash.

The cops are reluctant to put the flash of light on the record. Eyewitnesses are nervous and insist on the veracity of their testimony. And a few months later, British and French newspapers published a sensational statement by former British intelligence agent Richard Tompleson that the Alma Tunnel may have used the latest laser weapon, which is in service with the special services.

Again "on stage" "Fiat Uno"

But how could fragments of a car appear at the scene of the incident, which will never be found? The media version is that the Fiat fragments were planted by those who prepared this accident in advance and wanted to disguise it as an ordinary accident. The press insists that these are British intelligence agencies.

The secret services knew that the white Fiat would definitely be next to Princess Diana's car that night. It was on the white Fiat that one of the most famous and successful paparazzi of Paris, James Andanson, moved. He could not miss such an opportunity to make money on the pictures of the star couple of interest to everyone ...

The media suggested that they simply could not prove the involvement of the photographer and his car in the accident, although they really hoped. Andanson was indeed in the tunnel that night. True, according to some of his colleagues who were on the evening of August 30, 1997 at the Ritz Hotel, it was a rare case when a photographer arrived at work without a car. And, perhaps, that is why the version developed by someone about Andanson's guilt in the accident lost its central link even before Dodi and Diana left the hotel. On the other hand, Andanson could indeed have been involved in the accident. He repeatedly came to the attention of the al-Fayed family's security forces, and for them, of course, it was no secret that Andersen was not only a successful photographer. Evidence that the photographer is a British intelligence agent was allegedly obtained by al-Fayed's security service. But Father Dodi, for some reason, now does not consider it necessary to present them to the investigation. James Andanson was not an accidental figure in this tragedy.

Andanson was seen in the tunnel, and there he really was one of the first. We saw at the scene of the tragedy a car very similar to his car, however, with different numbers, possibly fake ones.

And then there are the unanswered questions. Why did the photographer, who spent several hours at the Ritz Hotel for the sake of a sensational shot, suddenly not waiting for Diana and Dodi al-Fayed, for no reason left his post and went straight to the tunnel. After the accident, Andanson, without even waiting for the denouement, when a crowd had just begun to gather in the tunnel, suddenly disappears. Literally in the middle of the night - at 4 o'clock in the morning - he leaves Paris on the next flight to Corsica.

Some time later, in the French Pyrenees, his body will be found in a burned-out car. While the police are establishing the identity of the deceased, in the office of his Parisian photo agency, unknown people steal all the papers, pictures and computer disks related to the death of Princess Diana.

If this is not a fatal coincidence, then Andanson was eliminated either as an unwanted witness or as the perpetrator of the murder.

In September 1999, another reporter died in one of the hospitals in Paris, who was on that ill-fated night next to a mangled black Mercedes. Reporter James Keith was preparing for minor knee surgery but told friends, "I have a hunch I'm not coming back." After being discharged from the hospital, the reporter was going to publish documents about the causes of the accident at the Alma Bridge, but a few hours after his death, the Internet web page with the details of the investigations, and all materials were destroyed.

Who turned off the cameras?

The police officers working at the scene decide to attach the recordings of road surveillance cameras to the case. It is from them that you can accurately determine how the accident occurred and how many cars were in the tunnel at the time of the collision. The called workers of the road service do not understand why there is such a rush, and only wonder why the films cannot be viewed tomorrow morning. But when they open the boxes in which the video cameras are mounted, they are even more surprised. The video surveillance system, which works properly in all other points of Paris, by a strange coincidence, it was in the Alma tunnel that it failed. Who or what was the reason, one can only guess.

Version 4 Drunk driver

On July 5, 1999, almost two years later, newspapers from all over the world publish a sensational statement from the investigation: the main blame for what happened in the Alma tunnel lies with the driver of the Mercedes, Henri Paul. He was the security chief of the Ritz Hotel and also died in the crash. Investigators accuse him of driving drunk.

Michael Cowell, al-Fayed's official spokesman: "It was officially announced that he was driving at a speed of 180 km/h. Very fast. Now, in the file, it is written in small print: “The accident occurred at a speed of 60 (!) kilometers per hour.” Not 180 km/h, but 60!”

The statement that the driver was drunk came out of the blue. To prove or disprove this, you just need to take the blood of the deceased for analysis. However, it is this simple operation that will turn into a real detective.

Jacques Mules, who was the first of the representatives of the investigating authorities to arrive at the scene of the tragedy, said that a blood test showed true position cases, which means that Henri Paul was really very drunk.

Jacques Mules, head of the detective police brigade: “Before leaving the Ritz, Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed were nervous. But the main thing that indicates an accident is the presence of alcohol - 1.78 ppm in the blood of the driver, Mr. Henri Paul. In addition, he took antidepressants, which also affected his driving style.”

Michael Cowell, al-Fayed's official speaker: “The footage proves that Henri Paul behaved adequately in the hotel that evening, he is talking to Dodi at this distance, talking to Diana. If there were even the slightest sign of intoxication, Dodi, and he was very picky in this regard, would not have gone anywhere. He would have fired him."

To have so much alcohol in the blood, Henri Paul had to drink about 10 glasses of wine. Such intoxication could not help but notice the photographers located at the hotel, but not one of them pointed out this in their testimony.

The examination data, indicating a state of severe intoxication, were ready within 24 hours after the autopsy. But this was officially announced only two years later. For 24 months, the investigation worked out a deliberately weaker version of the guilt of the paparazzi or the presence of Fiat Uno. And two years later, it is unlikely that anyone who saw the hotel security chief Henri Paul that evening will be able to say with certainty whether he was completely sober.

A day after the accident, toxicologists Gilbert Pepin and Dominique Lecomte had just completed a blood test on Henri Paul. The test tubes are placed first in the box and then in the refrigerator. The results are recorded in the protocol. According to what is written, the driver can be considered not just a little drunk, but simply drunk ... But the numbers written in the column below are even more surprising: the level of carbon monoxide is 20.7%. If this is true, the driver simply would not be able to stand on his feet, let alone drive. Only a person who committed suicide by inhaling gases from the exhaust pipe of a car could have in his blood such an amount of carbon monoxide that was found in Paul's blood ...

Michael Cowell, al-Fayed's official spokesman: "It's more than likely that either accidentally or deliberately, the blood samples were swapped. Somehow they got confused. In the morgue there were many errors with tags, which has been proven to date ... "

The French secret services also have something to hide in this story. Due to the fact that the rest of the corpses still cannot be found, it is no longer so important whether the test tubes were changed by accident or it was a specially prepared action. Something else is important. Someone really needed the investigation to go on as long as possible. To make it as confusing as possible. Test tubes with the blood of Henri Paul could well be replaced with the blood of another person who committed suicide.

For a long time, the investigating authorities insisted that there could be no mistake. It is indeed the blood of Henri Paul. However, the film crew of the REN TV channel, as a result of their own investigation, managed to prove that the blood, in which traces of alcohol and carbon monoxide were found, does not belong to the driver of Princess Diana.

Jacques Muhles, head of the detective police brigade, admitted to our film crew that he took the test tubes with the blood of Henri Paul with his own hands and really mixed up the numbers, giving a test tube with the blood of a completely different person under the name of the driver of Princess Diana.

Jacques Mules, head of the detective police brigade. “This is my mistake. The fact is that I worked two days in a row, I did not sleep at night. Due to fatigue, I mixed up the numbers of the test tubes. I immediately informed the judge about this, but he said that it was not significant.

It does not matter if the error was immediately corrected. And if not? If, due to a simple oversight, or even worse, deliberately, the results of the analysis remained falsified? There is still no answer to this question.

Who is Henri Paul?

Henri Paul, head of security at the Ritz Hotel, is the only official culprit behind the tragedy. In the reports of the investigation, he appears as a complete neurasthenic and drunkard. Taxi experts point to the presence in the blood of Henri Paul, along with alcohol, also a significant amount of antidepressants. The doctor confirms that she prescribed Paul drugs to treat depression. And to reduce cravings for alcohol, because, according to the doctor, the patient abused alcohol.

We decided to check if the head of security at the luxury hotel was actually an alcoholic and a drug addict.

Cafe-restaurant "Le Grand Colbert". Henri Paul used to come here for dinner for many years.

Restaurant owner Joel Fleuri: “I bought the restaurant in 1992. Henri Paul was already a regular here... He was here every week. No, he was not an alcoholic. It turned out that we are engaged in the same flying club - he flies on light aircraft, I fly on light helicopters.

On the eve of the tragedy, Henri Paul, in order to renew his flying license, undergoes a rigorous medical examination. The doctor examines him and takes blood for tests the day before the disaster.

Doctors did not find any signs of latent alcoholism in Henri, nor traces of any medications.

After the death of Henri Paul, very large sums of money were found in his account, which, in theory, he could not earn. In total, he had 1.2 million francs.

Boris Gromov, intelligence historian: “Henri Paul, according to some British intelligence officers, was a full-time agent of MI6. His name was often mentioned in the dossier of this service. It is clear that there is nothing accidental here, and its role is clear. Because high-ranking statesmen from various countries often stay at the Ritz Hotel ... And serving as the head of the security service there is extremely beneficial for any intelligence ... "

40 minutes before the tragedy, Princess Diana does not yet know that it will not be Dodi's personal bodyguard Ken Wingfield who will be driving their car, but the head of the hotel's security service, Henri Paul.

According to the version that the investigation initially had, his car turned out to be faulty. And so the couple set off in Henri Paul's car. However, eight years later, Wingfield stated that his car was serviceable. It was just that Henri Paul, as head of the hotel's security, ordered Wingfield to stay behind and drove Diana and Dodi on his own in his car and along a different route. Why was Wingfield silent for so many years? What was he afraid of?

Diana's security guard Trevor Rhys-Jones, driving out of the Ritz Hotel, sat down in his usual seat - the seat next to the driver, which is called the "dead man's place." Due to the fact that during an accident it is most vulnerable. But Rhys-Jones survived. And Diana and Dodi al-Fayed, who were in the back seat, died. Today, the only survivor can't say anything about what happened in the tunnel. He has lost his memory and does not remember anything that would shed light on the events of that night. We can only hope that in time Rhys-Jones will recover. But whether he will have time to say everything that he remembers is unknown ...

Dodi al-Fayed's bodyguard has long been on operating table. And despite the more severe injury, the doctors no longer doubted: the patient would live. At the same time, for some reason, they are trying to save Princess Diana in an ambulance.

The car is standing. It is impossible to do procedures in motion.

In fact, according to experts, the princess died because someone decided that there was no need to go to the hospital. What is this, a mistake? Nerves of doctors? After all, they are people too.

Or maybe someone needed Diana to die?

When it was all over, a decision was made to send the body of the princess on a special flight to London.

The plane from Paris to London flies no more than an hour. It would seem that there is no reason to linger in Paris, however, when the body of Princess Diana was taken to a British clinic, an incredible thing turned out. It turns out that Diana's corpse did not have time to cool down, as it is hastily embalmed in violation of all the rules. And prepare for burial. All this takes place in Paris. While a special plane, without turning off the engine, is waiting for its sad cargo.

Michael Cowell, al-Fayed's official spokesman: "In violation of French law, this was carried out on behalf of the British Embassy, ​​which, in turn, admits to having received instructions from a certain person."

The name of the person who gave the order to carry out the embalming has never been established. The preparations that are used during embalming do not subsequently allow for repeated examinations of the corpse. If British doctors wanted to find out again what state the princess was in, say, a few seconds before the disaster, they could not do it.

That is why there are versions that, perhaps, some kind of gas was sprayed into the car, which made Henri Paul lose his bearings. Today it is impossible to confirm or deny this version.

Meanwhile, al-Fayed Sr. is convinced that Diana's body was embalmed in order to hide a sensational fact. In his opinion, the English princess was pregnant by his son.

Virginie Bardet, photographers advocate: “We will never know if Diana was pregnant. All documents are classified, only the cause of death has been made public: internal bleeding.”

EPILOGUE

The collected evidence is enough for numerous novels, but not enough for the royal prosecutor's office. Non-working traffic video surveillance cameras at the scene of the tragedy, witnesses of the accident dying one after another, the white Fiat Uno that was never found, carbon dioxide taken from the driver’s blood from nowhere, fabulous sums on the driver’s bills, the criminal slowness of the French doctors and the too obvious haste of those who embalmed the body pathologists ... The version of contract killing has not been refuted by anyone. But it hasn't been proven either.

Jacques Mules, head of the detective police brigade: “There was a banal accident. Everything has been checked and rechecked a thousand times. And the search for a conspiracy, details sucked from the finger ... Spy passions are the usual fruits of fantasy. In the eyes of Great Britain and even the whole West, Princess Diana was a symbol of a beautiful dream. A dream cannot perish in such an ordinary way.

BY THE WAY

On August 31, on the day of Lady Dee's death, Channel One will show New film"Princess Diana. Last day in Paris" (21.25). And immediately after its completion at 23.10 - the Oscar-winning film "The Queen" with Helen Miren in the title role. About the reaction to the tragedy of the royal family.

“We weren't going to stir up the royal family's dirty laundry. But after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the death of Princess Diana is perhaps the most high-profile story. Using the example of the investigation into the death of Princess Diana, we wanted to understand how such cases are investigated in the West. Does the government interfere? Does politics influence such investigations?

We have learned a lot. And I would strongly recommend that the authorities pay attention to the role of the American intelligence services in this story. After all, it is known that Diana was the object of surveillance and control on their part, especially in recent months. If they opened their materials on Diana, I'm sure we would learn a lot of interesting things. Or maybe even find out the name of the killer.

Diana's story is unusual. If she showed a little hypocrisy, or, to put it more simply, simple worldly wisdom, she would have everything in chocolate! But she preferred the throne to the right to love whom she wants.

The story of Prince Charles, in my opinion, is still waiting for its assessment. After all, look, in spite of everything - the will of the mother, state interests, public opinion He has loved his Camille for many years now.

Everything else is small compared to this...

This article does not pretend to reveal everything in the psyche of Princess Diana at once. possible diseases and violations. But she once again emphasizes that all problems are inside a person, and can be there for quite a long time, if no efforts are made to resolve them, until we begin to notice their devastating consequences.

Princess Diana. Psychological picture

There are people about whom it is very difficult to talk, because any words would be superfluous. These people seem to live their whole lives according to other laws, and in vain we would try to judge them according to our own. This is impossible, because their heart is not here somewhere... Is it like this from their very birth? Or do they become like this later? At what moment this happens - we cannot say for sure, but only a loving heart can give an answer to this question, and he does not need to talk about it.

Why, even being born into a noble family close to the court, do you become unlike anyone else, completely different from the people around you, a bit of a black sheep? How to overcome it? And is it possible to do it? And one more question, when life from the very beginning prepares you for a fairy tale - whose victim are you becoming?

Sometimes a person lives more for people than for himself, but this happens because he really lacks love insanely, and the reasons for this must be sought in his childhood. And, although initially the defining word for the whole life of a person is EDUCATION, then his personality comes into force, then the living thing that is inside, his feelings, and already from these two components his FATE is formed.

Diana Francis Spencer was born in Sandringham, ( Sandringham House Norfolk. She was the third child of Edward John Spencer, Viscount Althorpe and Frances Roche Spencer, née Lady Fermoy, and she was their third daughter, while her father was expecting an heir for the third time. The girl was given a name only three days after birth ... "I should have been born a boy!" - so Diana herself will say about it later.

Frances went to the owner of a small wallpaper business, Peter Shand-Kidd, leaving four children: Sarah, Jane, little Charles and Diana herself, when the latter was only six years old. By a court decision in which Diana's grandmother Ruth testified against her own daughter, it was decided that the children would remain with their father. So Diana, from childhood, lived in a world in which adults staged their endless battles.

She herself recalled this time in this way: “My parents were busy settling scores. I often saw my mother crying, and my father did not even try to explain anything to us. We didn't dare ask questions. Nannies replaced one another. Everything seemed so shaky…”

“It was unbearable! Sometimes I did not want to get out of bed, I forced myself to do it. And I remember my bitterness as clearly as if it were yesterday.”

Many children experience divorce in the family, but not everyone manages to cope with it. And very few understood that Princess Diana remained such a deeply traumatized child until the end of her life.

In many ways, little Diana was raised by her grandmother, Lady Ruth Fermoy. By the way, Lady Ruth was in the past the favorite maid of honor of Queen Elizabeth II, therefore, Diana herself, at the age of five, could easily play hide and seek with Her Majesty.

From childhood, Diana and her sisters were spoiled without measure. Later, Diana recalled the following case, when the choice was too difficult for her child's heart: both her father and mother gave her two chic dresses, and she could not decide which one to wear to her friend's birthday. It would seem a trifle, but it was precisely from such moments that the future character of the princess was formed.

Nevertheless, Diana grew up as a lonely child and desperately missed her mother. She tried to create an appearance of comfort at home, which in reality was a manifestation of the nervousness of a child, spoiled by the attention and expensive gifts in which her father and mother competed, but deprived of real warmth, support and a sense of security and own significance for her parents. The girl covered her little brother with a blanket, neatly seated plush toys on the sofa, closed the curtains throughout the house, brought tea to her father ... but attempts to maintain a semblance of order could not really console the little lonely heart. There is another very important point regarding Diana's growing up: it consists in the fact that if you were taught from early childhood to be a toy in the hands of adults, if they play with your feelings, then when you grow up, all the relationships of other people will also seem to you nothing more than toys. . And the upbringing is to blame for this, which did not teach what is good and what is bad, but taught only to understand how it would be better for you.

However, the position of the Viscounts of Althorp required that the children be given an appropriate education. At first, Diana was brought up by the Spencers' governess Ruth Allen, who was also taught by her mother. Then she was sent to Sealfield, to a private school near King's Line, then to Riddlesworth Hall preparatory school. At 12, she was accepted into West Hat, a private girls' school in Sevenwax. Little Dee was a favorite student there, although she was not very diligent, and this situation was further aggravated after the divorce. That psychologically it was difficult child, in fact, few people cared, because a lot was attributed to being spoiled, and the position in the world that her, albeit incomplete, family occupied.

In 1976, Diana's father married for the second time to the aristocrat Lady Raine Dartmouth, and, according to him, found his happiness. However, the girls did not accept the imperious and self-confident lady: "Rhine, Rhein, get out" - with these words they greeted her arrival. All this, of course, could not add confidence and happiness to little Dee.

Diana had some difficulties in teaching. She was shy and a little timid, sometimes, answering at the blackboard, she was speechless - she liked to work more from her place. But what concerned the mind, memory, the ability to think, left no doubt about her giftedness. She succeeded in essays and tests in history, she drew well, got along well with her classmates. Diana has always loved animals and children. Also in preparatory school she gladly took on the responsibility of taking care of the kids from preparatory groups. And they really loved her. Unfortunately, she did not have to show such sincerity of feelings for long. But for her soul it was always the most important thing.

But the best self-expression for Diana was various sports. She danced, swam in the pool, participated in sports competitions. Dancing is generally something that she will carry through almost her entire life, or at least through most of it. How unfulfilled dream. One of the youthful victories was the first prize of the West Hat school in a dance competition in 1976. Diana tried to learn dancing in a short period of independent life in London, even before marriage. She never became a serious dancer. This was later explained to the press by the fact that during a trip with friends to Switzerland for the holidays, she seriously injured her knee. Her tall stature was also considered an obstacle to her dancing career.

Diana has always been a creative person, whose seething energy could not find an outlet. All her abilities - she sang, danced, played the piano well - remained at the level of undertakings. Even in her marriage to Charles, she always felt useless and unnecessary. She managed to find a use for the feelings that overwhelmed her, to gain confidence much later. In her youth and the first time of her marriage, she remained a spoiled child, and at the same time suffered from an inferiority complex. Here is what 17-year-old Diana wrote in a letter to her nanny about her main hobby: “The love of my life is dancing. Tap dance, modern dance, ballet, jazz. I also love to sing, but listening to me sing is impossible, however, as well as watching me dance. And I dance like an elephant. That's why no one looks at me."

However, they will still look at her a few years later, when, already being a princess, on November 9, 1985, Diana will dance rock and roll with John Travolta at a reception at the White House. Everyone remembered the impromptu performance, and Travolta's business has gone uphill since then. Another attempt to catch up with her dream was her performance on the stage of Covent Garden, paired with professional dancer Wayne Sleep. The performance was timed to coincide with the birthday of Prince Charles.

The right to add a prefix to your name Lady Diana received in 1976 after the death of her grandfather and her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer 8th. Then the family moved to the ancient ancestral castle of Althorp House in Northamptonshire. There, 16-year-old Diana met Prince Charles for the first time when he came to Althorp to hunt. And according to her recollections, he seemed to her just "very funny." However, at that time he courted her older sister Sarah. Diana soon had to go to study in Switzerland.

Diana's youth was fairly well covered by the press, however, only from the position that she was the girl who was the bride of the prince. She had all the necessary virtues and had no dark spots in the past. What was known about her? She was distinguished by modesty - journalists nicknamed her "timid Dee" - she worked as an assistant teacher in a kindergarten in Pimiliko. Ordinary people were impressed by the simplicity and seeming lack of ambition of the young princess. But who was Diana really in her incomplete 19 years, and what was in her heart? How did she live in that short year of independent life when Charles proposed to her?

Returning from Switzerland, where she spent two years in a prestigious boarding house that prepared future exemplary wives and mothers, and from where she fled ahead of time, Diana was left to her own devices. She had the support of her family, but nevertheless decided to live on her own. Having rented a small apartment in the center of London on Coulhern Court Road with two friends, she began to work. Babysitting her friends' kids, cleaning their apartments, including her own sister Sarah, for £1 an hour. And later she got a job as an assistant teacher in the kindergarten "Young England".

She wanted to feel as independent as possible from her own family, and indeed, she was. But is it one? The determining factor in her actions is a sense of her own uselessness, which has been going on since her childhood, which, however, was not noticeable even to her friends who live with her in a small apartment on Coalhern Court Road. According to the recollections of friends, there was always a certain “halo of exclusivity” around her, which did not allow many to get too close to her. However, was it not just the fear of a frightened soul, waiting to be hurt again, that it would again be unnecessary?

Therefore, even for her flatmates it was a surprise that the day when the newspapers printed pictures of Diana walking in the company of Prince Charles along the banks of the River Dee in Balmoral.

How difficult it is in life to choose, to distinguish the genuine from what only seems so. But the whole future life often depends on such a choice. Why did Charles choose her and not Sarah, whom he seemed to court? And why, daring to accept the offer, Diana shed so many tears in her small apartment? Why was this choice so difficult for her?

There was no calculation here that her relatives could reproach, no less surprised that the prince had proposed to her. Rather, it is the belief that she is destined for some special purpose, belief in a fairy tale, the ability to follow her feelings. Diana was very empathetic. Having suffered a lot herself, she could easily understand the suffering of other people. In addition, despite external shyness, she had a lively character and a mobile mind, a hidden fire burned inside her. She could easily subdue someone who agreed to believe her and be fascinated by her. But at the same time, she remained like a frightened and suffering child, not wanting to believe that she was abandoned, and as if asking everyone: “After all, really, you see that I am good, that there are so many wonderful qualities in me? I'm really good, but I can be even better, believe me. And we both, and you, and I believe in it.

Therefore, there was nothing surprising in the fact that it was she who managed to find the right words at a time when the prince was really hard, and this meeting became decisive. And it was just fate. When the prince lost his uncle Lord Mainbatten, Diana, noticing him alone, came up, sat down next to him and said: “I saw you in the church at the funeral service. You seemed so lost to me. You looked so sad. This is unfair, I thought then, “He is so lonely, someone should be there at this moment!”

Did Charles decide at that moment, or was it just the last straw, but from that very evening he began to shower her with such signs of attention that it soon became clear to everyone that the future princess was in front of them.

Charles belonged to the ancient family of Windsor - the royal dynasty that has been ruling in Great Britain since 1901. A little historical background: they took their name from Windsor Castle, which is the residence of the English kings and a symbol of the British monarchy for almost 1000 years. From William the Conqueror, who laid this castle on a hill in the Thames valley back in 1066, to the now living Queen Elizabeth II. Alas, in order to intermarry with the proud and impregnable family of the Windsors, Diana had to pay too much.

Looking at their interviews that they gave during their engagement, you always find yourself thinking, where did these two make a mistake? Did they understand, did they see the signs of a future tragedy hovering in the air. After all, the collapse that their union suffered cost the prince his reputation, deprived him of the chance to rule the country in the future. Diana, this mistake cost her life. Not to mention the fact that other people's destinies were broken ... Charles could marry for love, could have children from his beloved woman. Diana could also find her happiness, finally realize herself, and not waste her nerves trying to be happy in a marriage where it was impossible by definition to become happy. She could just be happy woman, instead of becoming an icon, a model of suffering. After all, she was still very young. How much has been lost, just because of the fear of ruining the reputation.

Diana at the time of the engagement was only less than 20 years old, and Charles was 33, and he had had a mistress for 10 years, a marriage with whom was unacceptable for the royal family. And which nevertheless will take place in 2005 - 8 years after the death of Diana. Camilla Parker Bowles is Charles' true love. Contrary to all the traditions of the court, he twice proposed to her, but was proudly refused. Because the Queen Mother had serious fears that if they got married, Camilla's former lovers, and she had many of them, would give incriminating interviews. Their union could not be legalized. And everyone understood this, except for the prince. But Charles, nevertheless, had to marry. And it was even more obvious.

But then Diana did not know that she was just a convenient candidate for the role of wife to an elderly prince. Nor did she know that Camilla herself had said to Charles: “Marry Diana. She is quiet, you won’t have any problems with her…” Or maybe she just didn’t believe it. In any case, the decision was made, and after less than a year of courtship, in February 1981, she accepted his proposal over dinner at Buckingham Palace. And the young began to prepare for the wedding.

Who will condemn a girl who, at the age of 19, received a marriage proposal from the prince himself? Who in her place would not believe that she was born under a lucky star? Alas, she was destined for a completely different path than it seemed at first ...

It was the wedding of the century. In the early morning of July 28, 1981, the whole country, clinging to television screens, followed Diana, who, in a luxurious dress with a 7-meter train, stepped under the arches of the Cathedral of St. Paul to the festive chime of bells. Whatever Charles thought, who made the decision to marry in bed with his mistress, or Diana herself, who agreed to this step after lonely painful thoughts in her small apartment, accompanied by tantrums and tears ... And did the royal family understand that instead of bringing in sacrificing part of the reputation, are they sacrificing someone's life? Or did it not matter to them? But there was something else...

Few people then paid attention to bad omens: Diana mixed up the names of the groom, uttering marriage promises, and Charles, instead of saying: “I promise to share with you everything that belongs to me”, said “I promise to share with you everything that belongs to you” . However, the bride was strong in one thing: she was young and beautiful, and also trusting and naive enough to take everything that happened at face value. And whoever doubted anything, the inner circle preferred to believe in hope, hope for a better future for this couple. Yes, they themselves believed in it at first.

Externally, it was perhaps the most a beautiful couple in the history of England. Photos taken during honeymoon trip, left no doubt that they really got married for love. However, such an alliance is too rare for the royal family. Perhaps too big. And perhaps everything would be fine, but Diana's nervous instability, and her principled uncompromisingness on the other hand, as well as the past of Prince Charles, in which there was an ongoing relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, unrecognized by the family, envy and the negative attitude of relatives seeking their own benefit, and finally, a constant publicity, which made public any emerging problems - all this played a role, and eventually turned into a combination of circumstances that became fatal to their marriage, which lasted 15 years.

“Very strange changes are taking place in me: there is Diana, who wants to hide somewhere and not be shown in public, and there is a princess who is trying to cope with her problems as best she can. The second is winning so far, but at what cost? And what will happen to the first one? Diana wrote to a friend at the time.

Her odd behavior was obviously due to defense mechanisms, and in her marriage to Charles, she almost always felt insecure. Diana constantly felt unhappy. From this she went into simple little joys: she loved to watch TV, gnaw cookies in bed ... Her quarrels with Charles were caused by attempts to assert themselves, to earn respect and love. But they were doomed to failure in advance, because Charles never loved Diana, even just as a husband, not to mention the fact that he definitely could not give her the love that surrounded her in childhood. Therefore, all attempts by Diana to gain a sense of security, which she so needed from the age of 6, were at least unsuccessful. Alas, he did not see in her a suffering child, but only a woman unable to make decisions and be responsible for her actions, a woman who may have become a princess by calculation. So the combination of circumstances that Diana fell into turned out to be fatal for her. Which led to the inevitable collapse and death. It was not in the tradition of the court to show any sincere feelings. Even people who saw the situation in which Diana found herself could hardly openly show sympathy for her. To say that her husband did not want the princess, that he had married her out of necessity, that the marriage was arranged, meant at the very least to bring himself into serious trouble. And then, in the end, each person is responsible for what he does. Her relatives, in fact, had long lived their own lives, and they did not need her. For them and themselves it was a surprise that Diana managed to become the Princess of Wales, and at least they hoped that in this marriage she would be happy.

But, nevertheless, outwardly at first nothing foreshadowed such a terrible catastrophe for their marriage, which, for the first time in the history of the British monarchy, would end in divorce in 1996. On the contrary, Charles and Diana initially embodied the ideal of the family.

During this time, Diana gave Charles two sons and the monarchy two heirs. On July 21, 1982, Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, Prince of Wales, was born, and just two years later, on September 15, 1984, Prince Henry Charles Albert David was born. Motherhood radically changed Diana. If earlier she was an insecure girl, now she has become a real woman who knows what she wants. Her only desire was the happiness of her sons, for which she could give up any conventions, and the laws of publicity seemed to not exist for her. Therefore, the fact that with the birth of children Charles seemed to remain in the shadows next to a blooming and radiant mother was natural but it didn't matter to her. But in the hearts of the British, Diana remained the standard of motherhood ...

However, the cruel truth was that Diana, over 15 years of marriage, turned into a driven creature, constantly on the verge of depression and nervous exhaustion.

Soon after the birth of William, her bulimia worsened, which began to torment her even after the engagement.

All the causes of bulimia, and there are three of them - organic, social and psychogenic - have, as psychologists emphasize, "childish" roots. This disease arises as a result of "feelings of rejection or inconsistency with the environment, dislike in childhood, the trauma of losing a close or other tragic event." It is very characteristic that it more often develops in people with high incomes, who come from very wealthy families, with a high spirit of competition and great concern for their own prestige. Such people make excessive demands on themselves, which they are not able to fulfill.

Diana's nervous tension led her to two suicide attempts, one of which she made while still pregnant with William. Lady Diana tried to throw herself headfirst down the steep palace stairs. “I was desperately unhappy, and for anyone other than Charles, it was obvious. I needed medical care - I was so depressed! Trying to cut my veins with a knife, I disfigured my arms and chest. But even this did not make any impression on Charles, ”she said about it later. It is hardly possible to remain silent about this truth. But only a very brave person can make such a confession.

No one needs love as much as a person who is not loved the way he wants it.

I think that Diana gave people a fairy tale. She, who lacked parental love as a child, bathed in it during her public speaking, but in reality this could not replace for her what she so needed before. And until the end of her life, this desire remained unsatisfied. "People's Princess", "Queen of Human Hearts" - what for others could become a forced necessity, for her was the meaning of life, and she sincerely gave this piece of herself, perhaps too much. “I have always been, am and will be, only a humanitarian figure, I only want to help people in any way I can, that's all ... The world is sick with a lack of philanthropy and compassion more and more ... Someone needs to get out of here, love people and tell them this.

Nevertheless, Diana became the most famous humanitarian figure. She did it sincerely and achieved serious success in this field. Through her efforts, among other things, an agreement was reached on the prohibition of the use of anti-personnel mines. It was signed by many countries, excluding Russia. True, this happened after her death. But this is not such a small achievement as it seems ... Diana was one of the first at that time who was not afraid to take a person with AIDS by the hand and take a picture with him. Charity was a direct, albeit an unspoken duty of every member of the royal family. But Princess Diana really gave it a piece of her heart. Peacemaking as an attempt to find one's own vocation, well-being, self-affirmation, recognition of oneself as a person in order to earn love. Perhaps this could not replace her feelings of love for a loved one. It was really a long way. This is the way the saints usually go. She was not canonized, as, for example, the Passion-Bearer Tsar Nicholas II. But her work was a step in that direction.

She followed the precept of Mother Teresa: "Do not let even one remain unhappy after meeting you!"

She made an indelible impression on people. Such cases of adoration are known when a terminally ill girl, after visiting Diana, kissed the chair on which she was sitting. A woman who personally attended the heart transplant operation and held in her hands anti-personnel mine, cannot but deserve respect.

But in her personal life, drama followed drama. In search of love, Diana over the years has gone the way of a woman who, out of desperation, decided to take the last step - betrayal of her husband. Her first lover - security guard Barry Manaki was fired from the guard. In 1997, he will die in a car accident under unclear circumstances. After that, Diana went into all serious trouble. After Charles, she changed 9 lovers. It's been an ongoing search soul mate which made her more and more unhappy. Truly, Diana needed to look not for a soul mate, but for a path to herself. And she almost passed it, because she was a very brave woman.

The connection with Dodi al-Fayed seems to me her biggest mistake. It didn't matter to the people around her, and she seemed to understand that. It was unacceptable for a man of her position, but she didn't give a damn about that either. And so these actions were the act of a woman who had lost her fear.

And God decided to end her suffering...

On the night of August 31, 1997, a car carrying Diana and her lover after dinner from the Ritz Hotel crashed at full speed into the 13th pillar of the tunnel in front of the Alma bridge in Paris. The driver and Dodi died on the spot. The security guard was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Diana, who was rescued from the wrecked car only 90 minutes later, died at the Salpêtrière hospital two hours later. The only survivor of this terrible disaster - the guard Trevor Rhys-Jones does not remember the events.

The public responded to the news of the death of Princess Diana with deep mourning. In St. James's Palace, where the body of Princess Diana lay, five books were put up in which people could express their condolences in writing. In a few days, the number of these books grew to 43. And although after the divorce, Elizabeth forbade Diana to call herself "Her Royal Highness", leaving her only the title of "Princess of Wales", her funeral was held at the insistence of Prince Charles with royal honors. However, she no longer needed this, so obvious and undeniable was the love of the people for her. The British flag was flown at half mast on the day of the funeral. At the funeral ceremony, Sir Elton John performed his song "Candle in the wind", dedicating it to Princess Diana. Once this song was dedicated to Marilyn Monroe. Coincidentally, both of these women passed away at the age of 36 ...

Diana was buried at the Spencer family estate of Althorp in Northamptonshire, on a secluded island in the middle of a lake. You can talk about her life and death in different ways ... She was, above all, an ordinary earthly man and everyone has the right to love or condemn her. The priest of the church, located not far from their family estate, said the following words: “She will become a legend. Years later, the details of her sinful life will be forgotten, and a bright, kind image will remain. Legends, you know, live by their own laws."

Let's leave last words to Diana herself: “People want to see me as a fairy princess with the ability to turn everything into gold. And few people understand that the person from whom they expect a miracle constantly reproaches himself for not conforming to this image. Princess Diana spoke these words at Kensington Palace in 1991.

Only a woman of great courage could utter such words in public. The courage that Lady Dee possessed. A woman who managed to openly admit her shortcomings, even those that were somewhere deep at the bottom and destructively influenced her personality. And it is precisely this property of her to be a real woman to the end, to fight, to defend her innocence and not allow anything that her pride would not accept - it was these qualities that made her the queen of the hearts of the people of Great Britain, and then the whole world.

Olga Baryshnikova